Jig hooks and jig heads: Hook set and fish control in cover

Step	Do	Why
Set	Reel the slack, then a hard upward sweep, not a jerk on slack line	A fibre guard needs pressure to fold; slack sets nothing
First second	Keep the rod high and reel: get the fish's head up and moving toward you	A fish that turns down wraps you in the cover
Do not let it run	Heavy rod and 50–65 lb braid or 20–25 lb fluorocarbon: pull, do not play	Every metre of line out is a branch to wrap
Wrapped	Give slack for 3–5 s, then steady pressure; move the boat over the snag	A wrapped fish often swims out on slack
Boat position	Sit on the side you can pull the fish out toward open water	Set up before the pitch, not after the bite
Drag	Locked down for cover, a little give in open water	Cover fishing is a tug of war, not a fight
Net or hand	Hand-land at the boat, or net early; do not swing big fish	Hook holds in a fold of the guard are shallow

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Jig hooks and jig heads

Hooks whose shank bends at the eye so a head can be poured on: the bare jig hook, and weighted jig heads for soft plastics classified by head shape and build (ball in four builds, strolling jigs by mechanism, football, swing, stand-up, Ned in four builds, shaky, darter, swimbait, underspin, tube, weedless, grass), because each fishes differently; and the skirted jig itself, by head shape (casting, flipping, football, swim, finesse, punch).

Jig hooks and jig heads